The most watched television event in the U.S. is growing even larger. Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, home to the San Francisco 49ers, will play host to the NFL’s annual championship game on Feb. 7th. And great news for fans came when CBS Sports announced this week plans to unveil new camera technology throughout the stadium for the audience of Super Bowl 50.
Last year’s game registered 114.4 million people watching in the United States; breaking it’s own record from the previous year and that number is expected to increase for 2016.
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This year, CBS Sports will look to improve the proceedings of the big game by implementing thirty-six cameras strung along the top deck of the stadium to create a 360-degree perspective for instant-replay shots. These cameras will also provide a first person point-of-view from the quarterback position; a first of it’s kind. This is significant as well for the referee’s, who will have every angle provided to them during replays and challenges on the field.
“We tried it on a couple regular-season games and it looks remarkable,” CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said Tuesday at a gathering of TV critics.
Additionally, CBS will use 16 cameras inside eight pylons in the end zones, better known as “pylon cams,” with embedded microphones to capture natural game sounds. These new elements were used last Monday during the College Football Playoff championship between Clemson and Alabama and rightfully received high praise.
The television network will also incorporate the use of NFL’s Next Gen stats, which tracks player movement and provides real-time matchup statistics during the broadcast.
During competition, 70 cameras in all will be on hand to capture the event with 12 production trucks handling the feeds.